Ruida controller and motor setup

[Les Brown]

I feel quite apologetic for having to ask for help again.

I have built a large 80w laser that uses the Ruida RDC644XG controller. I have been commisioning it and now have the wiring generally checked through and so far so good. With a little assistance from members on here I have addressed issues with bubbles in the laser tube water and sorted many other little niggles. It now sits there humming away nicely, but inert. I designed the machine from scratch but as a professional mechanical designer that was arguably the easy part for me.

I now have the task that I have dreaded as it is outside my comfort zone. I have to get the stepper motors moving and conduct other setups for table limits etc. Unfortunately I have swamped my brain and can't now think straight. I'm hoping there is someone out there that can list, in outline only, the steps I need to take. E.g. do I need to connect the machine to my pc to conduct that initial setup or is it done simply using the limited display on the controller itself? Is that by an ethernet connection or can it be by USB? I have really stalled here and need your help.

A few simple steps outlining the basics that I can follow up on is all I ask.

Any help would be gratefully received.

[James Minick]

I'm assuming you have followed the steps in the "RDC644XG Controller User Manual"?

If you are confident enough, smoke test.

I would check the Lightburn Software forum also for tips.

[Les Brown]

I'm assuming you have followed the steps in the "RDC644XG Controller User Manual"?

If you are confident enough, smoke test.

I would check the Lightburn Software forum also for tips.


Hi James. Yes, I've been working with the user manual. I'm going back to it today hopefully with more luck. My post was borne of frustration but it's a whole new day :-)

I'll also look at the Lightburn forum. I'm planning on using Lightburn anyway.

[Les Brown]

Had a better day today. Now using the much better Lightburn software and have had the rails running etc. At the moment though I'm trying to figure out why I can't set homing and getting it to respond to the Y axis limit switches. The pain continues.......

[Bill George]

Sounds like your best use of your time is to learn Basic CNC 101 from some google Searches or books. There are lots of folks building machines, not so much on here.

[James Minick]

This is a great place to get MUCH info on what you are trying to do.
Homing or perhaps Origin gets set from the first power-up of the controller.

Do you have a drawing or schematic of your wiring?
Glad to take a look.

[Les Brown]

This is a great place to get MUCH info on what you are trying to do.
Homing or perhaps Origin gets set from the first power-up of the controller.

Do you have a drawing or schematic of your wiring?
Glad to take a look.


Thanks for the offer James. I think I'm pretty much on it now as I have sorted most of the issues. I had problems getting to motors to do anything under control and getting them to stop when needed, all of which are really important! Turns out many of the issues were to do with the way I had wired the limit stops i.e. back to front to what is needed as I had misinterpreted the table layout in respect of table origins, work origins etc. Now i had a switch to stop motion located in the direction of travel as opposed to dissapearing in the distance behind, it works much better! And having reset the step distance in the vendor settings and got the decimal place in the right place the motors have slowed down somewhat too! Did I mention I've been climbing an almost vertical learning curve?!!

[Bill George]

https://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Machine-Technology-Action/dp/1430224894/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=building+a+cnc+machine&qid=1573135642&sr=8-4

and another https://www.amazon.com/CNC-Cookbook-Introduction-Operation-Controlled/dp/0982110308/ref=pd_sbs_14_1/143-3039907-3462457?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0982110308&pd_rd_r=f39756fd-ba87-4b0d-8a4b-7c9062e61e89&pd_rd_w=Yoma7&pd_rd_wg=Si8L7&pf_rd_p=52b7592c-2dc9-4ac6-84d4-4bda6360045e&pf_rd_r=GMCJJ7QEKPH04FW9472S&psc=1&refRID=GMCJJ7QEKPH04FW9472S

I would send you the ones I used but they got relocated to another person.

[Les Brown]

Hi Bill. Many thanks. I rather think I'd have done well to read these a year ago! Still, considering I've not had an easy time getting this machine working I think that I've moved it on a lot in the last few days. I now have it running about the work area pretty much as desired. All I need do now is fire up the laser. I've got everything crossed. I'll report back after the fire is out :)

[Bill George]

Years ago when I first came on here I was going to build a Laser. No one here was interested and no one had done so. Even as I was a industrial controls electrician and had some limited DIY CNC I was sure I would have no problem. But after adding up the costs and I already had stuff ordered, I found it way cheaper just to buy one and modify and repair as needed. YMMV

[Les Brown]

Years ago when I first came on here I was going to build a Laser. No one here was interested and no one had done so. Even as I was a industrial controls electrician and had some limited DIY CNC I was sure I would have no problem. But after adding up the costs and I already had stuff ordered, I found it way cheaper just to buy one and modify and repair as needed. YMMV


If only I'd known...........

Still, the machine I have does have features I couldn't buy.

[Bill George]

What features you could not buy?

BTW I was lucky to get 50% of what I paid selling online and returns. Lesson learned.

[Les Brown]

What features you could not buy?

BTW I was lucky to get 50% of what I paid selling online and returns. Lesson learned.

One thing is the specific size. I wanted a machine to take a standard 610mm sheet that a 600mm wide machine couldn't and if the machine was the next size up I had nowhere to put it. The machine is in my relatively small office/workshop and I have only one location for it. I looked at lots of machines I could buy but none would fit. Another thing I wanted was a closed enclosure where the air is drawn in and taken across the table then back outside. That way all the warm air in my office wouldn't go in about two minutes! I wanted a through the lens red pointer as one using a beam splitter reduces laser power. I wanted a cover with lots of clear window so I could see what is going on. I wanted a water flow indicator and water temp display on the front so I could see at a glance if all was well when sitting at my desk across the room. I wanted a reasonable z range and potential for adding a rotating accessory. I also wanted to know that I could fix anything on it and having designed it there isn't anything about it I don't know or understand. (Although understanding some things, like setting up the steppers, has taken a bit of learning!)

But It's still been a massive undertaking that I wouldn't have embarked on if I'd known....!! But having said that, at the time of writing I'm pleased with how it's turning out.

[Bill George]

Like I said before you need a wiring diagram from a commercially built machine or a DIY one from a project. At one time when I first started MY build project I had one or two. That was a long time ago. Do a search for a DIY co2 laser and see what you come up with.

[Rich Harman]

One thing is the specific size. I wanted a machine to take a standard 610mm sheet that a 600mm wide machine couldn't and if the machine was the next size up I had nowhere to put it.
When I ordered my machine several years ago I had them build it to a custom size. I would be surprised if that was no longer an option.


I wanted a through the lens red pointer as one using a beam splitter reduces laser power.
As I understand it, a "through the lens" pointer and one requiring a beam splitter are one in the same. I would like to know more about a "through the lens" red dot pointer that does not require a beam splitter.

There was someone that came up with a clever way to accomplish this, the red dot pointer was on a hinge that would drop down into the beam path when required, then pivot up out of the way when the laser fired. I think it could be simplified by having a small mirror pivot down into the beam path instead of the whole laser pointer.

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